Read More

Bristol Old Vic has had its funding cut from £288,000 to just £100,000

And that’s exactly what has happened today, with four local groups being handed sizable grants which will allow them to flourish even further.

MAYK, OpenUp Music, The Architecture Centre and Theatre Bristol are the recipients of Catalyst Funding from Arts Council England, whose main goal it is to help create a more sustainable and resilient arts and culture sector.

Theatre arts organisation and producer of Mayfest MAYK has been handed £24,765 while OpenUp Music, which empowers young disabled musicians to play in inclusive youth orchestras, was handed £30,000 – the highest of the four grants.

The Architecture Centre and Theatre Bristol received £15,000 and £27,000 respectively.

Read More

Kate Yedigaroff, co-director at Mayk, said: “We are delighted to be awarded this grant, it’s significant for us to have a grant which is dedicated to helping us grow as an organisation.

“Catalyst Funding enables our small team to invest more time into strategic thinking, fundraising and partnership building, by providing us with producing expertise to help us deliver the many projects we produce alongside Mayfest.

“It will also open up new relationships with individuals and businesses, through a number of events in 2018 and 2019 designed to celebrate our existing supporters, make new friends and show those who maybe don’t know what we do how they could get involved.”

OpenUp Music creates new opportunities for young disabled musicians

OpenUp Music's development manager Annabel Green said the grant will be used to "improve the resilience of our organisation" and "strengthen our operations, ensuring we can continue to deliver our ground-breaking programmes and widen their reach across the country."

Phil Gibby, Area Director of South West for Arts Council England, said: “Arts and culture in England thrives on a mixed funding model of earned income, private giving and public investment.

Read More

“Although private giving will never replace public-funding, it’s an important source of funding for arts and cultural organisations, and we are delighted to be able to fund these four organisations in Bristol to build and strengthen their fundraising capacity.”